Category Archives: Green Living/Environmental Concerns

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St. Patrick’s Day is not the only reason why we’re celebrating “Going Green.” With Spring announcing its arrival next week and World Water Day falling on March 22, the call to action for being good stewards of our environment is more urgent than ever. If we don’t take care of our environment, our environment will definitely turn on us. We are paying homage to the value of going green as it relates to water. It comes as no surprise that the birthstone for March is an Aquamarine. This pale blue gemstone whose name originates from the Roman word “Aqua” meaning water and “Mare” meaning sea resembles the color of seawater.

For decades, we have grown familiar with the term “Going Green.” It is a ubiquitous statement that defines our worldwide ecosystem and the lives of humans and animal life everywhere. Around the world people, businesses and charities are making great strides by building communities to raise awareness about caring for and nurturing our neighbors and our planet.

As we prepare to celebrate World Water Day on March 22, Filters Fast would like to recognize some of our water filter vendors who have implemented impressive recycling programs for their products and going green initiatives.

Mavea offers a comprehensive recycling program where every part is broken down, cleaned and re-used. Nothing goes to the landfill. Return a minimum of 6 “Mavea” filters (only). They will pay the shipping costs. Simply request a pre-paid shipping label. https://www.mavea.com/mavea/mavea-recycling.html?L=0

Rainshow’r is now proud to partner with Active Recycling, an environmentally aware recycler, who understands our desire to limit our impact. For more information about their recycling program visit http://www.rainshowermfg.com/page6/page6.html.

Brita has a recycling campaign that recycles its carbon filters for the pitchers and faucet attachment models. For more information on recycling your Brita, filter visit http://www.brita.com/.

ZeroWater recycles their filters by separating each filter, then sending the plastic along with the materials inside to be sent to various facilities for reuse. Visit http://ww2.zerowater.com/recycling/ for more information.

Everpure water filtration products are recyclable and details on recycling locations can be found at www.everpure.com/ or you can contact Everpure at (800) 323-7873.

Make sure you are only sending filters made by these companies to avoid being charged for additional shipping. Through recycling, we can significantly reduce the amount of waste that litters our landfills and save energy compared to creating new waste with new products. Everything we do or don’t do plays a vital role in the health and dynamics of planet Earth.

Fracking. This controversial topic has made it to the headlines of many news centers across the country. Whether you are for or against it, the debate surrounding this hot topic issue is sure to be important now, and for generations to come. For those of you who are new to the issue, fracking is the process of pumping water and sand underground in hopes of freeing natural gas from underneath the rocks where it is trapped. Small fractures occur naturally underground, allowing some of this natural gas to be extracted; however, fracking accelerates this process. Opponents of fracking argue that it will contaminate groundwater as well public drinking water systems.

Most recently, the fracking debate has heated up in New York. Surprisingly, executive chefs, bakers, and restaurant owners are jumping into the frontlines of the debate. Many are making it their mission to raise awareness about the negative effects fracking can have on New York’s cuisine (Farley, thirteen.org). The organization, called Chefs for the Marcellus, has drawn the attention of some big name chefs, including the Food Network’s, Mario Battali. Battali’s four star restaurant, Del Posto gets much of its produce and meats from the farms in upstate New York, where the Marcellus Shale lies, and where Governor Cuomo would like to introduce hydrofracking.

Hoping to appeal to peoples stomachs, Battali and his chef comrades are insisting that fracking will impact the quality of their food. Executive Chef Brooks Headly of Del Posto is also extremely concerned about the effect fracking can have on New York’s eateries,insisting, “NYC is the greatest city of pizza, and a lot of people say that’s because of the water. If we destroy the water supply, we destroy New York pizza” (Farley,thirteen.org).

So, what do you think of the fracking debate? Do you oppose it because you believe it will contaminant groundwater and isn’t environmentally friendly? Are you for it because you believe it will decrease the price of gas and create jobs? Or, like Mario Battali, do you oppose it because you believe it will negatively affect the world-class cuisine found in New York City? Here at Filters Fast, we want to know what you think, so post your thoughts to our comment section or Facebook Page!

The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, located in the towns of Okuma and Futaba in Japan, gained international attention on March 11 of this year when the country was ravaged by earthquake and subsequent tsunami. After months of effort to prevent a nuclear meltdown at the site, the power plant has, according to NPR, “leaked about 45 tons of highly radioactive water from a purification device over the weekend, its operator said, and some may have drained into the ocean.”

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (also known as TEPCO) has pledged to shut down the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant by the end of the year amidst much criticism about its construction and handling of the meltdown.

NPR reports that TEPCO released a statement on its website indicating that “a pool of radioactive water was discovered midday Sunday around a decontamination device” and that “after the equipment was turned off, the leak appeared to stop. Later, workers found a crack in a concrete barrier leaking the contaminated water into a gutter that leads to the ocean.”

The power company has estimated that approximately 300 litres leaked out from the power plant before a crew was able to plug a hole and stop the leak. The concern is that radioactive water containing the harmful Celsium-137 may be released into the ocean and impact the seafood in the water that many fisherman and citizens rely on.

TEPCO is utilizing purification devices “to decontaminate water that has been cooling the reactors. Three of the plant’s reactor cores mostly melted down when the March 11 tsunami knocked out the plant’s cooling system.”